The purpose of this study is to explore the content of on-line video case discussions among pre-service and in-service teachers with the contribution of the teacher in the video case. An instructional environment was created within the context of three different teaching methods courses at a research-intensive university in the Midwestern US. Nineteen pre-service and nine in-service teachers engaged in online discussions about a video case of mathematics instruction. The discussions about the video case study took place in an on-line forum environment that is hosted at the university’s main campus. In this research study, our purpose is to explore the content of the online discussions of the case study. Our research questions are: (1) to what degree do online forum discussions of video cases in mathematics education foster high level of professional discourse, and (2) what dimensions of teaching were discussed in response to a video case of mathematics instruction? In order to frame the online video case discussions around the critical dimensions of mathematics classrooms in the present study, the participants were asked to read the book Making Sense: Teaching and Learning Mathematics With Understanding by James Hiebert and his colleagues (1997). The book introduces the core features of mathematics classrooms that support learning with understanding in five dimensions: the nature of classroom tasks, the role of the teacher, the social culture of the classroom, mathematical tools, and equity and accessibility. These five dimensions make up a framework for teachers to analyze mathematics classrooms and to reflect on their own or other teacher’s practice. The second theoretical framework was the NCTM standards including problem solving, communication, connection (integration), representation, and reasoning and proof (NCTM, 2000). These standards were selected as a framework since they have great influence on mathematics education, including the curriculum (Senk & Thompson, 2003). The participants were asked to use these theoretical frameworks to view, analyze and reflect on a second grade mathematics classroom. This was the opportunity for them to build a connection between theoretical and practical knowledge. This study uniquely contributes to the literature in a couple of ways. First, the teacher in the video, in-service teachers and pre-service teachers contributed to the case discussions. In previous studies on video or multimedia cases, the teacher in the video had not engaged in the discussions about his/her classroom teaching. The present study moved the research in this research agenda one step forward by including the teacher in the video case study as a participant of the case discussions. Another significance of the study is the use of video cases in an online environment for teacher development. These tools offer the participants to analyze practices of a mathematics classroom with all its complexities in an asynchronous mode of communication that gives them the choice to participate in the discussions regardless of time and places.

This study was conducted in a research-intensive university in the Midwestern United States. Twenty-six undergraduate and graduate students participated in this study. The study examined the data collected from online video case discussions available on an online professional development forum hosted at the main campus of the university system. The online forum was open to all faculty and students with a username and password. The study analyzed the data from a group of preservice and inservice teachers enrolled in three different mathematics teaching methods courses where one of the co-authors was the instructor of all three courses. As a course activity, all students enrolled in the methods courses had the opportunity to view and reflect on a video case of mathematics instruction available on an online forum. The case teacher also joined the online conversations regarding her video case. The data consisted of participants’ responses to a video case. We used the case discussions to help inservice and preservice teachers connect their theoretical and practical knowledge. To explore whether the case discussions created an opportunity for the participants to connect their theoretical and practical knowledge, we utilized the techniques of content analysis (Neuendorf, 2002).

The results indicate that the participants talked about a number of themes mainly introduced by the two theoretical perspectives, Making Sense and the NCTM Standards. For instance, it is suggested in Making Sense that the five-dimension framework is an effective tool analyze mathematics classrooms (Hiebert et al., 1997). In this study, these dimensions constituted a majority of the coding categories including teacher roles, equity and accessibility, tools and classroom culture. That is, the participants used these dimensions to make sense of the video. They viewed the video to explore some core features of mathematics classrooms that promote mathematical understanding (Hiebert et al., 1997). Also, the NCTM Standards guided the participants during the discussions. Both Making Sense and the Standards provided a lens through which they could critically examine the video. The results indicated that the participants had opportunities to build connections between the theory and practice through the case discussions. Additionally, the results showed that online video case discussions can be an effective tool that help teachers engage in scholarly discussions. The video case was an effective tool as it depicted a real mathematics classroom which preservice and inservice teachers were able to discuss. In summary, we contend that online video cases together with forum discussions have potential to create promising learning opportunities for both preservice and inservice teachers. This sort of setting promotes professional development by providing rich learning contexts where real life situations can be observed. When the case scenario is analyzed with a relevant theoretical frame that is known to participants, it provides teachers with a mental guide for interpreting the video, and also helps them to see the connection between theory and practice.